Test Drive 6

Test Drive 6
Here in my car, where the game breaks down. I will crash into walls and then drive crazy (In cars), like Big Rigs.
Genre(s): Racing Platform(s): PlayStation Game Boy Color Microsoft Windows Dreamcast Release: October 31, 1999 Developer(s): Pitbull Syndicate Publisher(s): Infogrames North America Country: United Kingdom Series: Test Drive Predecessor: Test Drive 5 Successor: Test Drive (2002)

Test Drive 6 is a racing game developed by Pitbull Syndicate and the first Test Drive game to be published by Infogrames North America after they bought out Accolade, the company who owned the Test Drive franchise.

It is the sixth installment in the series, and was released in 1999 for Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, PC, and PlayStation, marking it as both the first game to be released on a sixth-generation console and final entry to be released on fifth-generation systems. This page will cover the Dreamcast, PC, and PlayStation versions.

Why You Shouldn't Give It a Test Drive

1. Poor controls, even by late 1990s/early 2000s standards.
2. Pretty poor graphics, even worse in the PC and Dreamcast ports. Also, aside from Dodge Viper GTS, most of the car models look bizarre and very poorly made, such as the Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34) and Audi TT (8N). The Skyline GT-R is a good example in the latter two mentioned above where the taillights look too small compared to the original PlayStation release.
3. The framerate is capped at 30 FPS.
4. Very floaty physics, as the cars tend to bounce a lot.
5. Extreme rubber banding, which can also cause the AI to wreck their cars or even yours when dashing through a corner.
6. Abysmal AI. The traffic cars are the worst offenders, as they can deliberately crash or even ram your car off the road regardless of if you're driving on the right side of the road.
7. The cars' performance when fully upgraded can range from pathetically underpowered like the Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34) mentioned previously to downright overpowered such as Ford Mustang Super Stallion.
8. Bizarre handling model, which feels like you're driving a golf cart on steroids.
9. Generic sound effects. The engine sound effects are shared from the previous game.
10. Unintuitive menu design.
11. The tracks lack variety. The Lake Tahoe circuit is by far the most slippery course in the whole game, even in Class 4. Also, according to YouTube user Kacey, she pointed out that a portion of the tracks are recycled from Test Drive 5.
12. Even after beating the last tournament, the game won't show the credits! You have to cue them yourself by using the Credits option from the Options menu (on consoles) or before you quit the game (PC only).

Redeeming Qualities

1. When compared with Test Drive 5 which was average at best, the car handling is decent (unless you upgrade them).
2. There's a good selection of cars such as the Venturi Atlantique, TVR Speed 12, Jaguar XJ220, Saleen Mustang S351 and Toyota GT-One. Also, they're upgradeable, and some of these are rare sights in many racing games.
3. Decent soundtrack from artists like Fear Factory (featuring Gary Numan), Empyrion, Lunatic Calm and Cirrus, despite a portion of the songs are forgettable.
4. Thankfully, the police now chase every racer including you.
5. The PlayStation version has better graphics than PC and Sega Dreamcast versions.
6. Intro in this game is very well made.
7. The front cover art is very good looking.

Reception

Unlike the previous two games in the series, which were met with positive reception despite aging poorly, Test Drive 6 received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and was panned by fans of the previous games as was considered one of the worst games of all time. GameSpot gave the PS version a 5.2, the PC version a 4.7, and the Dreamcast version a 4.6 out of 10.

Trivia

In Europe, the publishing rights of the game were purchased by Cryo Interactive, due to the Test Drive trademark being exclusively registered to Infogrames North America, therefore not allowing Infogrames Multimedia (the European subsidiary) to use the Test Drive name. The latter kept the European publishing rights to Test Drive Off-Road 3, but renamed the game to 4X4 World Trophy, making sure the game had no relation to the Test Drive series. Other later games in the series until Test Drive Unlimited also suffered from name changes in Europe.

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